Days of a Different Life
by ExhibitionK9
Summary: When Harry defeats Voldemort and the Basilisk, instead of going to Dumbledore or helping Ginny and Ron, he goes and looks for Hermione and makes sure she is okay. What happens from then? Well, read it and find out! XD. Please review, all reviews mean a lot and I'm getting a mini poll going for characters to be introduced.
1. Chapter 1

**The time is now, this is my first chapter of my new story, Days of A Different Life, I'm so excited to see how this one goes. It's HHR (obviously) but I'll leave it up to you guys reading to decide if you want a side pairing or not.**

 **So, this is set up straight after Harry defeats the Basilisk and I can't remember how long it takes to brew the Mandrake antidote so I made it up XD.**

 **anyway, I've rambled on too much. Same as everyone, I don't own Harry Potter, it's JKRs and now. On with the story...**

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Harry was in pain. He had just been bitten and Fawkes had healed the wound but it still burned and he knew that it was a miracle he had survived never mind getting the pain to cease completely. Ginny had wept in his arms and together they had headed up and out of the camber. He had now got Ron up and along with Lockhart, climbed up a staircase Harry had summoned in parsel tongue. When they reached the top of the stairs, Ginny caught up to Harry and blushed as she tried to talk to him but Harry didn't even look at her once.

"Harry? What's wrong?" Ginny asked but Harry ignored her and left the toilets walking briskly before throwing his invisibility cloak on outside.

There he ran as quickly but as silently as he could before he ran into Snape and Dumbledore walking in the corridors together.

"Do you think Potter has anything to do with the chamber, Albus?" Snape asked, to Harry's surprise, with a hint of fear in his voice

"Oh I think he does, I think he's down there fighting the beast right now considering Fawkes left my office randomly with the Sword of Gryffindor in his talons" Dumbledore answered calmly

"What! You're leaving Lily's son to die trying to fight a fully grown Basilisk?"

Snape hissed keeping his voice quiet but Harry could still hear and this caught his attention

'What does he mean Lily's son and why does he care about me all of a sudden' Harry thought.

"You lack faith in his abilities Severus, he will succeed" Dumbledore replied calmly.

"I'm tired Albus, I will go and retire to my office. I will see you at some point tomorrow to talk some more about Potter and the Chamber I assume."

With that, Snape flicked his cloak as he turned nearly walking it to Harry as he hurried off back to the dungeons.

Harry hurried into the Hospital Wing and Madam Pomfrey was looking at the patients before hearing the door close. "I should have known you would come here Harry. I guess you're here for Miss. Granger again?" It had been 2 months since Hermione had been petrified and Harry had come to the Hospital Wing just to check on Hermione every single day. Now, the mandrake potion was finally complete after 5 long months of brewing.

Flashback:

Harry had just snuck into the Hospital Wing the night Hermione had been petrified. Madam Pomfrey was looking over all the other patients giving them scans and making sure that they were okay (obviously they weren't considering they were petrified). She came to Hermione's bed and after doing all of her checks said aloud "you can come out from under your cloak Mr. Potter, I understand you want to be here with Miss. Granger, she is after all, your best friend"

"H-h-how did you know?" Harry stammered after pulling off the cloak.

"Several reasons really, first I can very faintly sense your magical core. It's not surprising since you end up in here every month"

At this, Harry cringed slightly knowing she was right. But she carried on,

"Secondly, since I'm the matron and am in charge of the wards on the Hospital wing, I was alerted to your presence but the wards told me you weren't a patient or a threat so I carried on working. And finally, I remembered that your father had an invisibility cloak as I found it in his possession here many times. So when I didn't see anyone I added two and two together. But don't worry I won't tell the professors and since you are such a frequent and pleasant visitor, you can call me Poppy in private."

Harry smiled and replied "Then you can call me Harry whenever you want to"

"Please visit to see Miss. Granger as often as you want. If she were awake, I'm sure she'd appreciate your company"

Flashback over

Harry had stumbled forward and into the light. There Madam Pomfrey got to see a large scar running down his forearm with blood drying across his head. "Get over here now Mr. Potter or I will stun you and sort you out while you're unconscious"

Harry then limped over to a bed and lay down. He described what happened to him in the chamber. She was left wide eyed looking at the Basilisk fang scar on his right arm that was still visible even after Fawkes had patched it up.

Madam Pomfrey did all she could to cover and heal the scar and as she finished, Harry swung his legs off the bed and moved towards the curtains surrounding Hermione's bed.

"I'll start administering the antidote to the patients in a minute, I would like you to wait with Miss. Granger." He then went through the curtains and pulled up the same chair he had pulled up every night for the past few months. It was 5 minutes until Madam Pomfrey walked through the curtains and administered the mandrake potion. She then said to Harry, "She may wake up within the next minute or could stay asleep and only wake up around 6 hours, I can't tell you when she will wake up."

Harry sat there holding Hermione's hand for the next 3 hours before his head started to droop but he felt a muscle twitch in Hermione's hand and then her hand grasped his hand and she started breathing slowly, Harry's eyes flew open and he looked at Hermione. Her eyes flew open and she saw Harry looking back at her softly.

"H-h-Harry?"

"Yes Hermione?"

"Right, I have a million questions. First, what school work did I miss?"

At this Harry openly laughed and looked at Hermione before saying "Only you would worry about school work after being petrified for 2 months and completely missing me fighting the Basilisk that almost killed you"

"Wait, you fought the Basilisk? What were you thinking?" Hermione shrieked, "you could have died! I c-c-could have lost you" she started sobbing. Harry crawled onto her bed and put his arm around her. "It's okay. You didn't loose me, I'm right here, I mean I can't promise you I won't try something that stupid again cause I probably will."

Hermione gave him a watery smile and hit him lightly saying, "you better take me with you if you plan on being stupid. Just so I can stop you from dying. But anyway, tell me everything that I missed, after we get a nights sleep, I'm tired and hungry."

Before she had even finished her sentence, Harry's eyes closed and he fell asleep. Hermione thought 'he is so cute when he's asleep, I wonder if he can stay with me over the summer rather than those horrid Dursleys.' With that, she also fell asleep.

The sun woke both of the young children up. Harry yawned as he saw Hermione stirring. He poked her awake as she laughed. Madam Pomfrey checked both of them and discharged them, they hurried down to the main hall. When they arrived, they saw Ginny and Ron staring daggers at them. "Why did you help us Harry?" Ron asked pointedly. "Well, erm I assumed you could get help by yourselves if you needed it, I was too desperate to see if Hermione was okay. I've been seeing her every day since she was petrified" Ron grinned slyly, "so why didn't you take me?"

At this, Harry's face darkened. "Because you know as well as I do, that you've become a pig recently and we wouldn't both fit under the cloak" harry replied dangerously lowly, "if you have nothing to say to 'Mione, then go away. I'm sorry Ron, but you never even asked to go see Hermione, and when I told you I was going, you tried to talk me into playing chess rather than seeing her. Then, you have the nerve to say that I didn't help you, you knew full well that there could be danger and as for Ginny, I helped by getting Tom out of your head. Be grateful cause I'm not fighting another Basilisk like that. Ever since the Basilisk petrified Hermione, your discipline and general pleasantness declined further than I'm willing to call a friend. I'm sorry Ron but if you can't keep your act together, then there is no point being you friend"

Ron and Hermione were both shocked. Ron at the bluntness and careless attitude towards himself and Ginny. Hermione for the care and support Harry had shown while she had been petrified. She was also annoyed at Ron for trying to stop Harry from seeing her and that he didn't think that fighting a Basilisk was help enough. She was so overwhelmed with emotions, tears welled up in her eyes as she bolted out the main hall mere minutes after coming in.

"Look what you've done, Potter" Ron spat, "your Mudblood whore was gone and run away. You might have money and fame, but you don't have a girl, of any worth at least"

The look on Harry's face was a mix of anger and disappointment and anxiety. He hated Ron for what he said and couldn't understand why he had said it. But he also wanted to go and see Hermione. He decided the best option was to go and find Hermione. He gave Ron a cold stare before saying, "this isn't over yet" and he ran off to find Hermione, and he knew exactly where she would be.

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 **Right, this might be really bad, but then again I wanted to set the split from Harry and the younger Weaslys early. Something happens that I don't want to spoil so the divide has happened. As always reviews would be great and I try to reply to my reviews if I can.**

 **My next chapter is up in a maximum of 2 weeks and until maybe chapter 3 we'll be in Hogwarts until the summer. As I said in the top, of you want any side pairings, please don't hesitate to ask me to do one. Just bare in mind, I would rather a straight pairing, but I don't mind a lesbian pairing suggestion. So no Drarry side pairings please XD**

 **signing off for now,**

 **ExhibitionK9**


	2. Chapter 2

**Hi guys, this is part 2 of Days of a Different Life. If you want the romance, it's coming don't worry. But as always, Harry Potter belongs to JKR and let's get on with the story.**

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Harry found Hermione in an unused classroom on the 3rd floor. She had heard Ron shout that she was a "Mudblood whore" just before she left and that had tipped her over the brink.

"Hey, you alright 'Mione?" Harry asked softly

"Go away, Harry" she grumbled sniffing from time to time.

"Nope, I'm here to make sure that my best friend is okay, I'm not going to leave without her" Harry replied defiantly

At this Hermione broke out into a fresh burst of tears and Harry ran over and reacted instinctively and for the first time in his life, initiated a hug with someone.

Hermione was taken by surprise and she smiled softly, "Wow, you've actually managed to start a hug Harry" she joked as she hiccuped.

Harry pulled back slightly and looked into Hermione's eyes and smiled, "well, for you it was worth it, and honestly, I think Ron crossed the line a few times and I've just had enough" he put a hand on her cheek and wiped a tear from the side of her face.

"Harry?"

"Yeah?"

"Thank you for saying you wouldn't leave without me"

"Well, you don't need to thank me if it's true" he smiled and took her hand to take her out of the classroom.

She took his hand but before leaving she asked him, "would you want to live with my parents Harry?"

Harry froze at this. He would not only have to meet his best friends parents but then also ask to stay with them. "Hermione, I couldn't be with your parents because they have you, I just wouldn't fit in"

"Oh, Harry, you'd be fine, honestly, I think they would love to have another child my age round cause I never had any friends back in primary school" Hermione said sadly

"But staying for a night and staying for the holidays are two different things"

"Well I can ask how long you can stay for" she was beginning to lose hope and didn't think Harry wanted to go

"We can ask, I just don't want to be in the way, if you want, I can stay at your house cleaning up while you go where you want"

"Harry! Don't say that, my parents would never make you do that" Hermione said scolding him slightly but looked empathetic.

"So they can leave me outside the house while you go?"

"Harry, my parents aren't the Dursleys. They understand that you are my friend, wherever I go, you go, it'll be fine"

Harry got Hermione to stand up and he said walking to the door and opening it, "I'll think about it, but for now let's go up and ask them if I'd be allowed and how long for"

They headed up to owlery but when they walked past the great hall and outside, they saw Ron getting shouted at by Fred and George and Ginny was behind them cowering in fear. Harry and Hermione ran over to see what was happening.

"You can't call Hermione that! What were you thinking, she is the brightest witch your age muggleborn or not. You don't have to go around with the stupid pureblood elitist attitude." Fred yelled angrily

"Hermione is a mudblood and your a blood traitor for thinking she's better than me, I'm a pureblood and I'm probably even better than Potter"

"You want to bet? He'll wipe the floor with you before you can count to ten" George countered

"Guys, just stop, will you" Ginny, Harry and Hermione yelled at the same time.

At this Fred and George had a look of amusement on their faces but the fire in their eyes told a different story.

"Hey Harry, Hermione, I just wanted to apologise for what happened this morning. I just felt bad for trying to blame you for not helping me, but o realised that I was wrong and I'm really sorry" Ginny started crying, "I only notice now that Toms fully out my head that by getting rid of him and fighting the Basilisk was more than enough and you saved my life" at this, she ran the last fest steps between them and hugged him, "thank you Harry"

"Hey, Ginny, it's alright, I understand, it's just I thought you were with Ron in the whole 'blood status matters' idea after you were staring at me like you wanted to kill me" Harry said, looking at Hermione, who looked slightly jealous but smiled sympathetically.

Fred and George seemed to calm down after they saw one of their younger siblings redeem themselves. They turned back to Ron who had been ignored for most of the last 5 minutes.

"Remembered me did you? Ginny, how could you betray me like that? You know I'm right and why would you side with the half blood and mudblo—" Ron didn't even finish his sentence before Ginny slapped him across his face.

"Im siding with them because they're right." Ginny cried. She said to Fred and George, "we need to write to mum about this" together they agreed to go to the common room leaving Hermione and Harry to continue on their way to the owlery.

When they arrived, they unrolled a piece of parchment and quilled a note to Hermiones parents. Harry suggested they use Hedwig and he turned to leave saying, "I'll wait for you down stairs, it's a bit cold in the shade" he turned and walked out the owlery. Hermione turned round to look at her letter and looked at it

 _Dear Mum and Dad_

 _Sorry I haven't been writing recently, I've been spending as much time as I can revising and then doing the exams. How have you been? I'm not doing too badly, I'm just waiting for the results to come back. I was wondering if it would be possible to bring another student, a really good friend, back with me for most of, if not all of the holidays. I've wrote about him before and he's called Harry. If he can stay, can you reply for how long he can_

 _Sorry this is so short I've got to go and do some stuff_

 _Love,_

 _Hermione_

As she read over it, she decided to try and persuade them a little bit more to let Harry stay over.

 _P.S. please can he stay over, I'm desperate to have a friend round, I really like him and to be honest he isn't brought up by a loving family, but he's a really nice guy like I wrote about in my letters before this one._

After that, she handed the letter to Hedwig and she flew off into the distance. Hermione smiled, time to go and see Harry. She stood up, not knowing her parents response could change her life entirely.

Harry met her at her favourite tree next to the lake where they talked for hours on the Saturday afternoon, this time next week, they'd be on the Hogwarts Express on the way back home. They had been honed by Ginny and the three of them talked for the rest of the afternoon.

Snape looked on as he saw Lily's child talking to the Granger girl and remembered when he first met Lily all those years ago. He contemplated his actions in the last 2 years and knew he had treated her son more like he would with James Potter, he had realised when he was talking to Albus last night that he cared for the boy more than he thought, it was the last piece of living evidence that could remind him of Lily. 'Screw the Greater Good' he thought and decided that he would help the Potter boy grow and develop in the next 5 years.

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 **So, that's chapter 2, after some of the reviews I got, I feel I was a little harsh on the Weasleys but I hate Ron. So I decided to go for a Ginny redemption since she didn't even say anything. Also, I'm considering having Snape help Harry and become like a mentor to Harry. As always, leave a review or pm me if you have anything you want to change about my stories.**

 **Signing off for now,**

 **ExhibitionK9**

 **P.S thanks to a guest for the review about Ron not being perfect. To answer that, I will say in this story, Ron will not be the only person that changes. I plan on introducing a new character to replace the 'Ron role' but Ron will be similar to Malfoy (pureblood Supremist, two 'minions', etc.). I'm sorry, but I hate the character but he could just be cut out of the story if you don't want Ron bashing**


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